I agree… especially since a handful of artists have virtually everything they ever did on this list. In a few cases (The Beatles, Dylan), multiple entries are obviously required, but as for the rest… well, is anybody’s fourth- or fifth- or sixth-best album really better than A Night at the Opera or Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Just the Piano Player or Yessongs or Aqualung (or two or three others by those artists, if you don’t like my choices). And as you point out, no classical (to include everything from chamber ensembles to grand opera, and all historical periods), no cast or soundtrack albums (can it really be true that even the best show recording ever is inferior to all those albums?[Ooops, on review, I see West Side Story is included. Still, no movie scores? No Rodgers and Hammerstein?]), too little jazz and big bands, too little (or none, depending on how you define it) country, very spotty and idiosyncratic selections of folk and R&B. Gospel? Rap/hip-hop? Punk (other than The Clash)? Disco? (I know, I know… but was there really no disco album worthy of historic note? Even though I disliked the genre, I suspect some of it achieved “greatness” on its own terms.)

In order to be meaningful, a list like this either needs to define itself more narrowly (e.g., 100 best popular music albums) or limit the number of entries from any one artist: All those Dylan, Beatles, Joni Mitchell, and Grateful Dead albums are no doubt great, but limiting each of them to two or three titles would’ve opened up spots for some very deserving albums.

Also, this list is really only the greatest albums by famous artists; there are almost certainly individual albums that belong on this list that were the one shot of greatness by an otherwise obscure artist. For my own personal example, I’d listen to Joan Osborne’s Relish again before I’d spin half the discs on that list. It’s just brilliant, from start to finish.

Personally, I’m proud to have lived my entire 55 years in an Elvis-Free Zone. I’m not fond of Neil Young’s whiny voice either, although I must admit he does have his moments.

Well, I’m not sure I agree that living Elvis-free is something to be proud of, but in any case, you need to be more specific: Presley or Costello (and BTW, doesn’t Armed Forces also belong on this list?)?

And Neil Young, “whiny” voice and all, is a freakin’ genious… but even so, I’m not sure he deserves as many spots as he got. (And BTW, where’s CSNY on this list? Their eponymous first ablum was a classic, with “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” “Marakesh Express,” “Wooden Ships,” “Helplessly Hoping,” and “Long Time Gone.”)

And speaking of rock singers with less than traditional voices, where’s Rod Stewart? I know he’s spurted out a lot of egregious dreck over the years (no, Rod, I don’t think you’re sexy…), but Every Picture Tells a Story would deserve mention on this list for “Maggie May” alone, nevermind the title track, “Mandolin Wind,” and “Reason To Believe”… classics all.

[DeepBreath]…but I guess this sort of kvetching just points out what lists like this are good for, eh?

PS: One last thought. Notwithstanding his subsequent descent into Islamic weirdness, doesn’t at least one of Cat Stevens’ albums belong on this list? (Think about the music; ignore the woo.)

The BBC staff and their favoured pets and sycophants are still labouring under the misapprehension that there’s only one set of “10” commandments in the Bible and are trying to spread that falsehood further by advertising their idiocy on the h2g2 front page: